MR MPR-005
MR MPR-005
MR MPR-005
MATERIAl REQUEST
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Abu Ol1abl Dlstribotion
EARTHING I LIGHTNING
Earthing/Grounding Systems
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EARTHING I LIGHTNING
(SPECIFICATION)
EARTHING/GROUNDING SYSTEMS
EARTIDNG I LIGHTNING
Earthing/Grounding Systems
CONTENTS
1 GENERAL ....................................................................................................................... 4
1.l Drawings ........................................................................................................................... 4
1.2 Equipment Identification and Color Codes ....................................................................... 5
2 . .................................................................................. 6
TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION ...
2.1 General .............................................................................................................................. 6
2.2 Earthing/Grounding System Planning and Design ............................................................ 8
2.2.1 General .............................................................................................................................. 8
2.2.2 Design Requirements ........................................................................................................ 9
2.2.3 Applicable Apparent Soil Resistance Measurement Method ............................................ 9
2.2.4 Calculation of Step and Touch Voltages ......................................................................... J 0
2.3 Potential Equalizing ........................................................................................................ II
2.4 Equipment and Materials Requirements ......................................................................... II
2.4.1 Mobile Earthing/Grounding Eq uipment.......................................................................... II
2.4.2 Earthing/Grounding Terminal Lugs ................................................................................ II
2.4.3 Earthing/Grounding Flexible Copper Braids................................................................... II
2.4.4 Ea11hing/Grounding Cables............................................................................................. II
2.4.5 Risers............................................................................................................................... 12
2.4.6 Grounding Rods .............................................................................................................. 12
2.4.7 Grounding Electrodes...................................................................................................... 12
2.4.8 Low Resistance Shield Conductors ................................................................................. 12
2.4.9 Ground Continuity Conductors ....................................................................................... 12
2.5 Earthing/Grounding Connections.................................................................................... 13
2.6 Earthing Conductor Connections .................................................................................... 13
2.6.1 General ............................................................................................................................ 13
2.6.2 Exothermic Welding Materials (if Exothermic Process is Required) ............................. 13
2.7 Deep Bore Grounding ..................................................................................................... 14
2.8 Eat1hing /Grounding Applications .................................................................................. 14
2.8.1 Overhead Tower .............................................................................................................. 14
2.8.2 Power Transformer and Reactor...................................................................................... 16
2.8.3 Single-Core Power Cables............................................................................................... 16
2.8.4 GIS .................................................................................................................................. 18
2.8.5 Fixed Earthing/Grounding Switches, etc...........................................·.............................. 19
2.8.6 Lightning Arrestors ......................................................................................................... 19
2.8.7 OHL Wooden Poles......................................................................................................... 19
2.8.8 Light Poles....................................................................................................................... 19
2.8.9 Panels, Cubicles............................................................................................................... 20
2.8.10 DC Distribution Equipment............................................................................................. 20
2.8.11 AC Distribution Equipment............................................................................................. 20
2.8.12 Steel Structure ................................................................................................................. 20
2.8.1 3 Operating Areas............................................................................................................... 20
2.8.I4 Operating Handles and Switch Shafts ............................................................................. 21
2.8.15 Fences and Service Areas outside of Fences ................................................................... 21
2.8.16 Others .............................................................................................................................. 21
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Earthing/Grounding Systems
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Earthing/Grounding Systems
EARTHING/GROUNDING SYSTEMS
1 GENERAL
This Specification shall cover:
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J ).> Design
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_ /;> Man,ufacturing ____..
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[ ..,. Factory Testing (as far as applicable)
I J;. Marking and Packing
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Shipping
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Transportation to Site
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1.1 Drawings
Typical Drawings for Earthing/Grounding System are provided in the Drawings Section as
follows:
! Drawing No. Title
I- -·----·--·---·----·-- ----- ....- - - .. .. __ _ _, __ __
DWG AAA EARTH 01 01 Earthing/Grounding System-1 (Sample 1)
1 DWG AAA EARTH 01 02
r--------------..·------..---..--........_.._..
! DWG AAA EARTH 01 03
.. ...... r __ _.. .
jEarthing/Grounding System-1 (Sample 2)
Detail of Earthing/Grounding System
._ _
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I DWG AAA EARTH 0104 Standard Copper Wire Junctions for Earthing/Grounding
I
!
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Systems
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1 Reactors
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-- ·-----·-----·----········-···-····--············-·.. -----·-···
-·-····-········- , ......
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DWG AAA EARTH 01 08-1 1 Grounding Pits and Covers (Type 1) J
1 DWG AAA EARTH 01 08-2 Grounding Pits and Covers (Type 2) ------
j DWG AAA EARTH 01 09 ! Earthing Method of Panels Installed on Raised Floors
· ---
rowG-AAA-EART'I1-o1'io··-----j"E:arthing Princ-ipi"e"Till&lis ct' FToo-·sy-Siem-·.··--·--·----·
rnwG AAA EARTH 01 11 r Earthing Principle for Cable Tray s
I DWG AAA EARTH 0112 . , Details of Wooden Pole Earthing j
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1 DWG AAA EARTH 01 13 I Details of Pole-Mounted 1110.4kV Transformer Substation !
1 1 Grounding j
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jDwG AAA EARTH 01 16
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TEarthing Clamping Bolt M16 & S-Bolt
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J DWG AAA EARTH 01 21 I Measuring Technique for Apparent Specific Soil
J I Resistance (Wenner Method)
r·DwfTAAA EARTH o"i--22·---rMeas ring Tech iqe fo Specific,Soil...Resi'stance
l Calculation
AAA EARTH 01 23 Earthing Methods of Cable Metallic Sheaths, Screens and
Armouring
AAAEARTtfo12·4--TEarthg Anangem nt: MV Equipment I Substations--
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Earthing/Grounding Systems
2 TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION
2.1 General
This specification covers the technical requirements for Earthing/Grounding Systems in
substations and/or switchyards, to protect people, equipment and to allow safe service and
maintenance of the electrical installations.
The Earthing/Grounding System, even when designed with a very low resistance, cannot be
considered as an equal-voltage surface. Substantial system voltage differences may occur and
may directly influence through a number of factors such as system resistance, system geometry
and distribution of ground currents, ground resistivity, and frequency of the transient.
The Earthing/Grounding System shall include earthing grid, raisers, grounding rods and all
required earthing/grounding connections.
The Bidder/Contractor shall design and install a high quality Earthing/Grounding System by
application of materials that meet the requirements of this specification.
The Bidder/Contractor shall bear full responsibility for the Earthing/Grounding System materials
by ensuring that the proposed Earthing/Grounding Systems are designed, manufactured and
installed in line with all internationally recognised codes and standards.
Earthing/Grounding Systems shall perform satisfactorily for the whole life time (50 years) of the
substation and/or switching yard without deterioration due to corrosion. It should continually
maintain a low resistance to the ground, satisfy thermal stability, and be capable of carrying
maximum anticipated full fault currents without deterioration.
The Earthing/Grounding System conductor size shall be designed to satisfy the flow of full fault
currents as specified in the Technical Data Sheets.
The Bidder/Contractor shall carry out ground resistivity and aggressiveness of soil measurements
of the whole Substation plot. If a plot will be filled with a soil layer > 1 m to raise the level, two
soil resistivity measurements- one before and one after the filling- shall be carried out. Based
on the results of these measurements and taking into account the system parameters, the
appropriate calculation and design shall then be worked out. The calculation shall indicate areas
where impermissible touch and step voltage exists. This shall include any place within the
substation premises and the area surrounding around the substation and/or switchyard
boundary/fence (approximately 3 m outside the boundary), where people/vehicles are likely to
pass by.
Prior to any Earthing/Grounding System calculation, the Bidder/Contractor shall agree with
ADWEA/ADDC/AADC what type of computer programme shall be applied for the
Earthing/Grounding System calculation.
If the finally agreed calculation programme is already available with ADWEA/ADDC/AADC it
should be updated (if it is not the latest version) otherwise the applied software shall be supplied
to ADWEA/ADDC/AADC and a software training shall be included in the Contract price.
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The calculation results and the Earthing/Grounding System design shall be submitted for
ADWEN ADDC/AADC approval.
The Earthing/Grounding System installation shall be closely co-ordinated with the relevant pruts
of the civil works and have to be checked with the detailed civil engineering drawings related to
all structures, incl. foundations.
The design of Earthing/Grounding System, the methods of earthing/grounding, and the shielding
of control circuits shall not affect the control equipment.
Upon approving the calculation and respectively the Earthing/Grounding design the
Bidder/Contractor shall commence the implementation of the Earthing/Grounding System
accordingly.
The Bidder/Contractor shall carry out verification checks (by experienced personnel) during and
after installation to ensure that the applied Earthing/Grounding System is in accordance with the
design and that permissible step and touch voltage will/has not been exceeded.
All documents including limitations and justifications shall be forwarded to
ADWEN ADDC/AADC for approval.
Earthing/grounding and shielding methods shall be as follows:
a) Number of earthing/grounding rods shall be defined according to earthing/grounding
calculation.
b) In electrical rooms like GIS, LVAC/DC rooms, basements, etc galvanised iron potential
equalising meshes as specified in the Technical Data Sheets shall be provided. It shall be
connected to the earthing grid via potential equalization bars at four locations. The
potential equalisation bars shall meet requirements as specified in the Technical Data
Sheets and shall be approved by ADWEN ADDC/AADC. The potential equalisation bars
shall be protected by a stainless steel cover.
c) Steel fences within and around substation and/or switchyard areas shall be connected to the
Earthing/Grounding System at different intervals. Touch and step potentials on both sides
of the fences must be within the specified limits.
d) At least, one potential control ring as specified in the Technical Data Sheets shall be
installed around each building inside of the substation and/or switchyard.
e) An earthing mesh as specified in the Technical Data Sheets shall be installed underneath of
each power transformer.
f) When a Substation is located adjacent to either another substation or to a power station, the
existing Earthing/Grounding Systems and (the new one) of the subject project shall be
inter-connected as specified in the Technical Data Sheets.
g) Minimum one earthing/grounding rod shall be installed, one at each comer of a building
and of a substation and/or switchyard plot.
h) Secondary of current transformer shall be connected to ground at only one point.
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Earthing/Grounding Systems
2.2.1 General
The function of an Earthing/Grounding System for an electrical installation shall be threefold:
i. To maintain the potential of any part of the installation at a definite value with respect to
the ground.
u. To allow current to flow in the event of a fault to ground, so that the protective equipment
will operate and the faulty circuit thus become isolated.
iii. To ensure that in the event of a fault, equipment normally 'dead' (un-energised) does not
attain a dangerous potential above or below ground.
Measurement of:
a) Soil resistivity
b) Aggressiveness of the soil (such as redex potential, moisture content, pH value, presence of
dissolved salts/organic acids, etc.)
for sizing of the Earthing/Grounding Grid shall be executed.
For the effect of corrosion, an allowance, which should not be less than 10% of the calculated
Earthing/Grounding grid size can be considered.
Calculations as above specified shall be made to establish an Earthing/Grounding System by
assuming ideal conditions. However, it is important to make allowances for possible variations.
Likewise, when measuring the ground resistance variations should be kept in mind considering
the accuracy of the measurement required.
It is normally the best policy to plan an Earthing/Grounding System with information gained
from a resistivity survey, plus using system design formula. The true soil resistance is likely to
be nearer the design value, if environmental and ground conditions changes have been taken into
account. The measured value tends to be lower than the true value with techniques used today.
The conductivity of the ground has a considerable influence on the effectiveness of an
Earthing/Grounding System. It shall be one of the factors governing a grounding electrode's
resistance.
The resistivity of the soil shall be taken as:
p =Q X
2
m Im =nX m
This represents the resistance between opposite faces of a metre cube of ground.
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Various conditions of the ground cause different resistivities and the differences found between
them are quite considerable, as the table above illustrates.
The amount of water held in the soil is governed by the weather conditions, time of the year,
nature of the soil, etc. To a certain degree the temperature of the soil has an effect upon
resistivity, lower temperatures causing higher resistivities, therefore, climatic changes have a
bearing on the planning of Earthing/Grounding Systems.
1
_
, -··- - --·---·····-----------·..·-·----······- ..······--------··--·-·-------·-·---------- ------- ------·-------·- ··-- ·
The ruling criteria in the design of the earthing/grounding system shall be the safety of personnel
and the proper operation of the electrical equipment during normal operation and during transient
disturbances such as short circuits in the electric power system and during lightning discharges.
The design of the earthing/grounding system shall be such that the maximum permissible step
and touch voltages are not exceeded, (refer to Guide IEEE Std. 80, 2000 Edition).
For turnkey projects, if the actually measured resistance of the installed ground system is higher
than specified, the Bidder/Contractor shall install, at no extra cost, additional earthing/grounding
rods, mats, etc., until the field-measured resistance is equal to or less than the specified value.
The ground system shall be composed of a system of tinned copper conductors buried
approximately 60 ern. beneath the surface of the ground, excluding crushed rock surfacing. The
grid system shall cover the entire fenced substation area and shall extend one meter outside of
the substation fence.
In case of smaller plot areas or substations housed in buildings, the grounding mesh shall be
installed below the basement floor. At each comer a ground rod shall be provided.
Driven ground rods shall be installed at regular intervals and connected to the earthing/grounding
conductor at grid nodes. Four of the ground rods, at least, must be installed (one at each comer of
the ground grid). The Bidder/Contractor shall determine the spacing of ground grid conductors
and the total number and location of ground rods and their lengths (single or two or more
coupled sections).
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l -
DWG AAA EARTH 01 21 Measuring Technique for Apparent Specific Soil Resistance
...
_,,,., _,,,,_,
-·-·....- .·.-····-·--····-·
,_,_,_,_,_,_,
The measuring technique to be followed for apparent soil resistance measurement shall be the
one developed Dr. F. Wenner of the US Bureau of Standards, which is described in a paper:
report No. 255 Bulletin of Bureau Standards, volume 12 No. 3, 11th October 1915, and titled 'A
Method of Measuring Earth Resistivity'. The basis of this principle is given below:
The method is sometimes known as the 'four electrodes method' because four electrodes (spikes)
are inserted into the ground and connected to the terminals of the earth tester.
The four spikes are equally spaced in a straight line and driven into the ground such that the
depth of insertion is <113 of the distance "a" between the spikes.
The spikes are connected to the ea1th resistance tester by multi-core cables.
Cunent is passed through the ground via the two outer spikes, which are connected to the current
terminals of the tester. The voltage appearing between the inner spikes connected to the potential
terminals of the tester as a result of the current flowing is measured.
The formula for calculating the specific apparent soil resistance at a certain depth of b is:
I
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For crushed rock covered areas a maximum specific electric resistance as specified in the
Technical Data Sheets or the actual measured resistance of the used material and size shall be
considered.
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2.4.5 ltisers
Risers shall meet requirements as specified in the Technical Data Sheets.
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2.6.1 General
For copper bar to copper bar connections the following connection methods are applicable:
a) Brazing, using zinc-free brazing material with a melting point of at least 600° C
b) Bolting (min. two 8 mm bolts each with two washers, one spring washers and a nut)
c) Exothermic welding (according to ANSIIUL 467)
d) Cold pressure welding
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2.8.1.1 General
For Overhead Tower Earthing/Grounding Details, reference shall be made to Standard Technical
Specification, Part
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DWG AAA EARTH 01 14 I Details of Steel Pole Earthing
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The earthing/grounding rods shall be driven into undisturbed earth at the outermost corner at the
bottom of the foundation.
2.8.3.1 General
Fundamentally the screen of a power cable can be treated in the following way:
• Sheath bonded at one side only
• Sheath bonded at both sides
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The practical implications of the choice of a specific earthing system are manifold and must be
taken into account when a power cable system is designed. The following aspects are influenced
when the earthing concept of a power cable system:
• Current rating of a power cable circuit
• Overvoltage in the power cable screen
• Magnitude of the zero and positive sequence impedance
• Appearance of stray current in the earth
• Earthing impedance of (remote) substations.
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• The zero-sequence impedance is bigger than for both sides bonding. This is due to the
fact, that the mean return distance of the current in earth, which depends on the
conductivity of the ground, is normally in the range lOOOQm, which gives high value for
the inductivity of the zero-sequence impedance. Practical measurements showed, that the
effective zero-sequence impedance differs a lot from theoretical value, as the ground is
normally disturbed by additional conductors like water and drainage pipes, gas pipelines
etc. Hence if single side bonding is used, the zero-sequence impedance needs to be
measured for each cable system in order to have accurate values.
• Stray currents in the ground from earth faults can cause disturbances to neighbouring low
voltage and data/signal cables.
In order to improve zero-sequence impedance and the general earthing situation it is
recommendable to install a parallel conductor along the power cable route. The losses in this
additional can be prevented by transposing if along the power cable route.
2.8.3.4 Recommendations
Earthing concept in or near a substation, where an earthing grid is in the ground
• Single side bonding in order to reduce the losses in the power cable screen.
Earthing concept outside of a substation
• For short cable length, where less than three sections of power cables are needed, single-
side bonding together with an additional earth conductor to improve the zero-sequence
and the earthing impedance.
• For long power cable lengths, consisting at least of three cable sections, implementing a
both sides bonding system as it increases the ampacity and improves the zero-sequence
impedance.
• For power cable circuits, where the number of cable sections is unequal to three or
unequal to multiple of th ;ee, both above described methods can be adopted.
If for any reason both side bonding is applicable, the spacing between the power cables shall be
minimised and trefoil formation shall be chosen in order to reduce the losses in the screen and to
maximise the ampacity of the power cable.
2.8.4 GIS
GIS Earthing/Grounding shall meet requirements as specified in IEEE Std 80-2000.
For high-frequency earthing, CIGRE (Group 23.10, Publ. Earthing of GIS - An application
Guide) shall be considered.
The GIS manufacturer shall evaluate:
a) Induced enclosure currents
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Earthing/Grounding Systems
b) Metal to metal touch voltage during internal and external GIS faults
c) Justify that specified touch voltage criteria are met and submission of special precautions for
ADWEA/ADDC/AADC's approval.
• Earthing should be done by boring and installing earth rods to reach the required
resistance value (less than 10 .0). It should be taking care to add any approved suitable
environmental friendly matetial to enhance the resistance value.
• If necessary it may be advised for more earthing points (similar to the said point) and
connect them together by suitable Conductor to achieve the minimum acceptable earth
resistance.
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S-AAA
·EARTH GROUND (Rev.0-20II).doc Page 20 of 23
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2.8.16 Others
Communication Circuits, Control Cable Sheaths, Rails, LV Neutral Wires, Portable Equipment
and Tools supplied from Substation, Piping, and Auxiliary Buildings shall be connected to the
Earthing/Grounding System as specified in IEEE Std 80-2000.
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The tests on Earthing/Grounding Cables shall be performed in accordance with ASTM B3 and
ASTM B8 and B153 and shall include, but not limited to the following:
General inspection:
a) Tensile strength tests
b) Elongation tests
c) Conductor resistivity tests
d) Dimension measurement
e) Surface finish inspection
f) Weight of conductor
i) General inspection
j) Measurement of dimensions.